Planter



July 2, 1946 L, H. KAUPKE ETAL PLANTER Filed Nov. 17, 1945 5Sheets-Sheet 1 July 2 1946. H. KAUPKE ETAL' PLANTER Fil ed Nov. 17, 19455 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 2, 1946. L. H. KAUPKE ET AL PLANTER Filed Nov. 17,1945 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Jami? v 5y M M removed;

Patented July 2, 1946 PLANTER Lee H. Kaupke, La Grange, and Lewis E.Smith, Congress Park, Ill., assignors to International HarvesterCompany, a corporation of New Jersey Application November 17, 1943,Serial No. 510,576

(Cl. ZZZ-Q13) V Claims.

This invention relates to a planter. More spefcifical'ly it relates to aplanter of the pick type. Plante'rs are known that comprise rotatablemembers carrying picks upon which the seeds to 'beplanted are impaled.These planters operate satisfactorily at low speeds, but the'high speedsdemanded nowadays require some change in the mode of operation. If thepick-carrying member is run faster, the picks may not take the seedssatisfactorily. If more picks are added to the pick carrying member, thespacing between the picks may be so small that extra seeds are picked upthat bridge across the picks. If two pickcarrying members are used sideby side and the picks of one carrier are staggered from those oftlieother, the spacing between the picks is similarly reduced so thatbridging occurs. The present application has to; do with a planter ofthe 'pick carrying type that isadapted for high-speed planting. I I I VAnobject of the present invention is to provide an improved planter.

A further object is the provision of an improved planter of the picktype. j

According to the present invention, seed-im- -paling members, such aspicks, are mounted upon rotatable disks that are set at an angle to oneanother. Since the disks are {at an angle to one another, they areclosely spaced at one side of their axes of rotation and widelyspaced'at the other side of their axes of rotation. With thisarrangement, seeds may be picked up by the picks at the widely spacedportions without a tendency toward bridging and may be discharged at theclosely spaced portions. 7

z' In the drawings Figure 1 is a plan'viewof the improved 'of thepresent invention;

. Figure 2 is a side'view'of the planter with parts l'anter 'Fi'gure 3is a sectional'view taken on the line 3'--3ofFigure2; Q

Figure 4 is a'sectionalview takenon the line Y lFigure 5 is aperspective view taken from the cross-point of a hopper and diskscarrying picks constituting the novel featurejof the present invention;and V I Figure 6 is an exploded view in perspective of aportionof thehopper. r I

...3Ihe planter, as shown in Figures. 1 and 2, in-

-to be pulled through a hitchstructure by draft means, such as atractor, not shown. The planter also includes a fertilizer box |8 fromwhich fertilizer is dispensed through a mechanism, not shown, since itforms no part of the present invention; There is also provided a seedbox 19. Positioned beneath the seed box I9 is a discharging member 20which is oscillated vertically for aiding discharge of seed from theseed box m by means of a cam 2|.acting against a part 22 secured againstthe base of the discharge member 23. The cam 2| is secured to a shaft 23that drives the cam and in turn is driven by a sprocket 24 Secured tothe shaft. Thesprocket 24 isdrive'n by a chain 25 inturn driven by asprocket 26 secured to the axle The sprocket chain 25 engages an idlersprocket 21 and also a sprocket 28 serving to drive the fertilizerdispensing mechanism, previously stated not to be shown but associatedwith the fertilizer box l8.

' As seen in Figures 4 and 5, there is provided a pair of rotatabledisks 29 arranged somewhat .out of parallel so that their axes intersectat an 'cludes a pair of supporting wheels I0, an axle I v obtuse angle.As shown in Figure 4, each disk 29 has mounted thereon a plurality ofradially outwardly extending pick-carrying elements 30 spaced about theperiphery of the disk 29. Each pick carrier 30 is pivotally mounted on asupport 3| by a bolt 32. Each pick carrier 30 carries-a plurality ofpicks 33 at its outer end. The bolt 32 and a bolt 34 secure each support3| to a disk 29. Each support 3| has a slot 35 through which the picks33 may extend. Each pick carrier 30 and support 3| are provided with aspring 36 connected by its ends to a projection 38 and a projection 31on the pick carrier 30 and the support 3|, respectively. The spring 36acts to position the support 3| with respect to the pick carrier 39 sothat the pick elements extend through the slots 35 in the support 3|.Each pick carrier 30 has a follower portion 39 engageable with anarcuate cam 43. It will be seen in Figure 4 that four sets of pickcarriers 3|] and supports 3|, arbitrarilydesignated as'A, B, C, and D,are positioned so that their cam followers 39-do not contact the cam 40.For these sets the springs 36 act to maintain th pick carriers 30 andthe pick-releasing member 40 in such position that the picks 33 extendthrough the slots 35. However, the sets of pick carriers 30 and supports3|, arbitrarily designated as E and F, have'rea'ched the cam 40, and thecam fol- 1owers'39 are in contact with the cam 40. Thus, the pickcarriers 30 are positioned with respect to the supports 3-| so that thepicks 33 are withdrawn from the slots 35 (Fig. 3). As the cam followers39 reach the cam 40, they pass upon a sloping end portion 4| and causethe pick carriers 30 to be moved away from the supports 3 l, and thepicks 33 are thereby withdrawn from the slots 35. As the cam followers39 move off the lower end of the cam 4|), the springs 36 cause the pickcarriers 30 to return to the supports'3l and the picks 33 to be insertedinto the slots 35. This change in position will be observed from acomparison of the sets A and F. Let it be as- V sumed that the picks 33of the set D carry a seed impaled upon them. When this set has reachedthe position of the set E, the pick carrier 30 will have movedsufiiciently with respect to the support 3| as to cause withdrawal ofthe picks 33 from the slots 35 and consequently a release of the seed.This seed, represented by the character 42, is shown to be released andfalling from the set E. As previously stated, each set of pick carriers30 and supports 3| in passing from the position of the set F to theposition of setA has its picks 33 projected into the slot 35. It is atthis point that a seed is impaled upon the picks 33. The disks 29 withtheir pick carriers 39, picks 33, and supports 3| are positioned withina hopper '43, best shown in Figures and 6. i This hoppercomprises a pairof side members 44 and a pair of central members 45. As seen in Figure6, each side member 44 comprises a central portion 4l, to which the cam48 is attached, and which has an opening 48. Outward of the portion 41is an arcuate flange 49. Outward of the flange 49 are a planar portion59 and a planar portion 5|. Outward of the planar portion 59 is anarcuate flange 52 which carries a boss 53. Outwardly of the planarportion 5| is an arcuate flange '54 at which are located bosses 55, 56,and 51. Extending laterally from the central portion 41 is a shelf 58havin a moderate incline downward toward the observer in Fig. 6 andbeing flanked by upstanding walls 59 and 69. Adjacent the shelf 58 isasteeply inclined portion 9 This is flanked by upstanding walls 62 and63. Figure 6 shows the left-hand member 44. As seen in Figure 3, theleft-hand member 44 has secured to ita bearing member 64 by means ofbolts 65 extending through a flange portion 96 on the bearing member.The left-hand disk 29 is secured by th'ebolts 34 to a flange 51 of amember 58 secured by a pin 69 to a shaft 15 journaled in the bearing 94.A collar H, secured to the shaft 18 by a set screw 12, holds the shaft70 within the bearing member 64 and the disk 29 in the position shown inFigure 3. The member 68 has a portion '13 connected in a universal jointT4 with a link 15, connected in turn in a universal joint 16 withaportion- 13 of the member 68 secured in similar fashion to a right-handdisk 19. A

pin 88 joins the right-hand member 68 with a shaft 8! journaled inbearing portions 32 and 83 of a casting 84 secured t therigh-t-hand endmember 44. The casting 34 houses a "bevel gear 815, secured to theshaftfil, and a bevel gear 86 meshing withthe bevel gear 85 and securedto a shaft 81. A sprocket 88 is secured to the shaft .81 and meshes withthe chain 25 (Fig. 2) driven through the sprocket 26 from the axle ndthe cludes a narrow arcuate portion 89, a depressed portion 99, and awide arcuate portion 9|. having at one end an upstanding flange 92. Thetwo central members are joined together by bolts not shown secured inbosses 53 formed on the narrow arcuate portion and bosses 94 formed atthe junction of the depressed portions and the wide arcuate portion 9|.The wide arcuate, portions 9| carry bosses 95 and 96 through which boltsnot shown extend to secure the central members 45 to the end members 44,these bolts extending also through the bosses 56 and 51 on the endmembers 44. The flanges 92 on the centra1 members 45 have thickenedportions 91, through which bolts 98 extend to secure the central members45 and the end members 44 to the transverse frame member |5 (Figure 1).A bolt 99 extending through bosses 53 on side members 44 secure theforward ends of these members to one another. With the plates 29positioned within the assembled central members 45 and end members 44,the narrow arcuate portions 89 of the central members 45 are adjacentbut spaced from the flange 49 between the planar portions 59 and 5|. Atthis region, the sets of pick carriers 3D and supports 3| extend beneaththe narrow arcuate portions 89 as indicated by the dotted line positionsof these sets on Figure 5. The sets pass from beneath the arcuateportions 89 over the depressed portions 99 into the hopper 43 properwhere they contact seeds, such as potatoes, and cause them to be impaledupon the picks 33. As previously described, the impaling is due to thefact that the return of the pick carrier 30 to the support 3|, uponpassing of the cam follower 39 off thelower end of the cam 40, causesthe picks 33 to be projected through the slot 35. This motion of thepicks 33 causes them to be driven into a potato seed. This occurs ataboutlthe time when a set composed of the pick carrier 3ll and thesupport 3| passes from beneath the narrow arcuate portion 89 of thecentral member 45. As the disk 29 continues to rotate, the set rises andthen moves rearwardly and downwardly along the planar portion59 of theside member 44. It is at this point that the follower 39 strikes the cam40 causing the picks 3 t0 bfiwithdrawn from the slot 35 and the potatoseed to be released. As will be seen from Figure 5, the upstanding walls59, 60, 52, and'63 of the side member 44 and the inclined portions 58and 6| are outward of the disk 29 so that any extraseeds carriedupwardly and rearwardly by the disk '29 and falling outwardly of thedisk do not fall to the ground but drop upon the inclined portion 58 andmove downwardly therealong to the inclined portion Bi and downwardly andinwardly of the disk 29 to the depressed portion 90 of the centralmember 45 where they are positioned to be impaled upon the picks 33.

It will be observed from Figure 5 that atone side of the axes ofrotation of the disks 29,.the set.- comprising pick carriers 39- andsupports. 3| are adjacent one another so as to cause the seeds releasedfrom the |picks 23 on one disk 29 to be at the same approximate point asthe seeds released from the picks33 on the other disk 29. At the otherside of the axes of rotation of :the disk 29 and in the region where theseeds are. impaled upon the picks 23, the sets are well spaced from oneanother. This relationship is due 'to the fact that. the axes of thedisks 29 are not coincident but are at an obtuse angle with one another.Since the disks 29 are well spaced from one another atthe regions atwhlchthe-seedsare impaled upon the picks 23 and are carried upwardly andover to a discharge region, there is no tendency for bridging of seedsto occur because of the closeness of the seeds impaled upon the picks 33of one disk 29 to the seeds impaled upon the picks 23 of the other disk29. Since there is no bridging, only seeds impaled upon the picks 33 arecarried. to the discharge point. Thus, only the desired number of seedsis discharged.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that a new and novelplanter construction has been devised. This construction has beenillustrated as applied to a planter of the pick type which spears seeds,but it will be understood that it is applicable to other types ofplanters as well. The essential feature of the construction is that thedisks or rotatable members, carrying means that pick up seeds, arearranged so that at the discharge point at one side of the axes ofrotation, the carriers are closely spaced to cause discharge from thetwo carriers at approximately the same point, and at the other side ofthe axes the carriers are widely spaced so that there is no interferencebetween the seeds picked up on one carrier and the seeds picked up onthe other carrier such as to cause a bridging of the seeds and thedelivery of too many seeds to the dis charge point.

The intention is to limit the invention only within the scope of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A planter comprising a [pair of rotatable carriers arranged withtheir axes of rotation out of I parallelism and alinement so as to berelatively closely spaced with respect to one another but out of contactat portions at one side of the axes of rotation and relatively widelyspaced from one another at portions at the other side of the axes ofrotation, radially outwardly extending hinged means mounted on thecarrier for causing seeds to be received at the widely spaced portions,means for causing seeds to be discharged from said means at the closelyspaced portions, drive means axially disposed respectively relative toeach carrier, and means drivingly interconnecting said drive meansbetween the carriers to rotate the carriers together.

2. A planter comprising a pair of rotatable carriers arranged with theiraxes of rotation out of alinement and parallelism so as to be relativelyclosely spaced with respect to one another but out of contact atportions at one side of the axes of rotation and relatively widelyspaced with respect to one another at the other side of the axes ofrotation, a plurality of radially outwardly extending hingedseed-receiving means mounted on the periphery of the carriers so as tobe generally equally spaced from one another and from the axes ofrotation, means for releasing seeds from the seed-receiving means at therelatively closely spaced portions of the carriers, drive means axiallydisposed respectively relative to each carrier, and. means drivinglyinterconnecting said drive means between the carriers to 1'0- tate thecarriers together.

3. A planter comprising a hopper, apair of rotatable carriers positionedin the hopper with their axes of rotation out of parallelism andalinement so as to be relatively closely spaced with respect to oneanother but out of contact at portions at one side of the axes ofrotation and relatively widely spaced from one another at portions atthe other side of the axes of rotation, radially outwardly extendinghinged means peripherally carried on the carriers to pick up seeds fromthe hopper at the widely spaced portions, means for causing seeds to bedischarged from the pick-up means at the closely spaced portions, anaxially disposed drive shaft respectively carried by each carrier, andmeans drivingly interconnecting adjacent ends of said drive shafts tocause conjoint rotation of the carriers.

4. A planter comprising a hopper, a pair of rotatable carrierspositioned in the hopper with their axes of rotation out of alinementand parallelism so as to be relatively closely spaced with respect toone another but out of contact at portions at one side of the axes ofrotation and relatively widely spaced with respect to one another at theother side of the axes of rotation, a plurality of hinged radiallyoutwardly extending seedreceiving means mounted on the periphery of thecarriers so as to be generally equally spaced from one another and fromthe axes of rotation, means for releasing seeds from the seed-receivingmeans at the relatively closely spaced portions of the carriers, andmeans applying driving force to the carriers at their axes of rotation.

5. In a potato planter comprising a hopper, a pair of rotatabledisk-like carriers positioned in the hopper with their axes of rotationintersecting at an obtuse angle to incline the carriers so as to berelatively closely spaced but out of contact at portions at one side ofthe axes of rotation and relatively widely spaced from one another atportions at the other side of the axes of rotation, radially outwardlyextending hinged seed impaling members carried on the disk-like carriersand adapted to pick up seeds from the hop-- per at the widely spacedportions, means for releasing seeds from the impaling members at theclosely spaced portions of the carriers, each disklike carrier includingan axial shaft to mount and I drive same, and a shaft having a universaljoint at each end respectively connected to the carrier shafts forconjoint drive of the shafts and carriers,

LEE H. KAU'PKE. LEWIS E. SMITH.

